North York: TTC decision on bus service cuts postponed to Feb. 2

TTC staff are recommending cutting some service on 48 bus routes throughout the city, which have a combined ridership of 1.3 million. Those cuts include eliminating late-night, weekend and/or off-peak service on 15 routes in North York (see sidebar), effective this spring.

Ridership on the 48 bus routes is low during off-peak times, TTC staff explained for its recommendation. By reducing service, TTC staff said it could both save $6 million this year and reallocate resources to improve transit service during rush hours and midday periods on routes where demand is growing.

Despite increasing fares in 2010, the TTC had a ridership of 477 million last year, 15 million higher than it projected. It has forecast an all-time record high of 483 million rides this year.

The TTC already increased the frequency of service on almost 30 bus and streetcar routes at the beginning of the year, including on 14 routes in North York (see bottom of story). It said it plans to increase service on more routes in September.

TTC staff released its recommended budget outlining the cuts Monday Jan. 10. However, councillors on the commission voted Wednesday to postpone making a decision on the proposed route cuts until the TTC's Feb. 2 meeting. City council is scheduled to approve its 2011 budget Feb. 7.

Service Increases (effective Jan. 3)

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25 Don Mills - Service will be increased in the midday and early evening from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. In the midday, the service will be improved from every six minutes to every five minutes 15 seconds. In the early evening, the service will be improved from every six minutes 30 seconds to every six minutes;

29 Dufferin - Service will be increased in the midday from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The service will be improved from every four minutes to every three minutes 40 seconds;

36 Finch West - Service will be increased in the midday from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The service east of Kipling Avenue will be improved from every five minutes to every four minutes 30 seconds;

41 Keele - Service will be increased in the midday from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The service will be improved from every seven minutes 20 seconds to every seven minutes;

42 Cummer - Service will be increased in the peak periods and late evening from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. In the morning peak period, the combined service west of Victoria Park Avenue will be improved from every five minutes 38 seconds to every four minutes 30 seconds. In the afternoon peak period, the combined service west of Victoria Park Avenue will be improved from every six minutes 30 seconds to every five minutes 45 seconds. In the late evening the service will be improved from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes;

53 Steeles East - Service will be increased in the late evening on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, to reduce crowding. The combined service west of Markham Road will be improved from every 16 minutes to every 13 minutes 30 seconds;

54 Lawrence East - Service will be increased in the late evening from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The combined service west of Scarborough Golf Club Road will be improved from every 15 minutes to every 11 minutes 38 seconds;

63 Ossington - Service will be increased in the midday, afternoon peak, and early evening from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. In the midday the service will be improved from every seven minutes 15 seconds to every six minutes 45 seconds. In the afternoon peak period the service will be improved from every five minutes 45 seconds to every five minutes. In the early evening the service will be improved from every eight minutes 30 seconds to every seven minutes 30 seconds;

85 Sheppard East - Service will be increased in the late evening from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The combined service east of Don Mills Station will be improved from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes. The service between Don Mills Station and Sheppard-Yonge Station will be improved from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes;

89 Weston - Service will be increased in the morning and afternoon peak periods, and in the midday from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. In the morning peak period the service will be improved from every five minutes 35 seconds to every five minutes 15 seconds. In the midday the service will be improved from every 10 minutes to every 9 minutes. In the afternoon peak period the service will be improved from every seven minutes 45 seconds to every 7 minutes;

97 Yonge - Additional southbound trips will be added in the early morning, from Monday to Saturday. From Monday to Friday, two new trips will depart from Steeles Avenue at 5:46 and 6:16 a.m. On Saturdays, one new trip will depart from Steeles Avenue at 5:53 a.m.;

106 York University - A later northbound trip will be added on Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturday night (early Sunday morning), the last northbound trip will leave from Wilson Station at 2:42 a.m., from Downsview Station at 2:45 a.m., and will arrive at York University at approximately 3:08 a.m. On Sundays (early Monday morning), the last northbound trip will leave from Downsview Station at 1:45 a.m., and will arrive at York University at 2:08 a.m.;

109 Ranee - Service will be increased in the afternoon peak period from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The service will be improved from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes;

122 Graydon Hall - Service will be increased in the morning peak period from Monday to Friday, to reduce crowding. The service will be improved from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes;

196 York University Rocket - An earlier northbound trip at 6:45 a.m. will be added on Saturdays to provide better connections from the first subway train arrival at Downsview Station. Routing of service will also be changed in the midday and evenings from Monday to Friday. See www.ttc.ca for details of new route.